Tornado Worlds at Palma de Mallorca, Spain - Day 2

A team are caught out by the shifty conditions on day two of the Tornado Worlds © Tornado class

McMillan and Bulkeley lead the fleet on day two of world championship (Team GB report from the RYA)

On the second day of racing at the Tornado world championship, Team GBR sailors Leigh McMillan and Mark Bulkeley have moved up into first place overall.

After a long postponement the 62 competitors at the Tornado world championship were finally released from the shore and a further two races were completed.

In the first race McMillan and Bulkeley rounded the first mark fifteen and sailed sensibly to chip away at their competitors to finally finish in third place overall. They followed this result up with another third place, despite the wind shifting through 45 degrees and varying in strength. The relatively young pairing rounded the first mark sixth and managed to move up to fourth and then into third place, which they maintained until the finish.

This consistent result sees them take the lead by two points from the 2003 world bronze medallists Santiago Lange and Carlos Espinola of Argentina, with Americans John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree third.

Two more races are scheduled for tomorrow and the forecast is for increased wind from the east. The event concludes on the 18 April.

Shifty conditions for the Tornados racing in El Arenal, Palma de Mallorca (Report from the Tornado class)

The boat park and the Jury Room were busy last night. While the competitors were repairing their boats, the Jury had 7 protests to hear. Out of the 7 four were dismissed and one was considered invalid.

“The sailors do not seem to understand the requirement to fly the red flag when protesting and that’s why some protests were not heard”, explains International Jury Chairman Pat Healy.

Day 2 of the Tornado Worlds started with shifty conditions on the water. The 2 races were very difficult and the boats had to wait for more than1 hour before the wind direction was stable enough to start racing. Southeast to east – 14 knots and gusty.

The Dutch team Mitch Booth/Herbert Dercksen had a very good day with a second and a first. British McMillan/Bulkeley had 2 thirds and are currently the leaders.

“The races today weren’t easy. Really shifty and we tacked and jibed at least 10 to 12 times on each leg”, says Mitch.

“In such conditions one little mistake cost us 20 positions in 200 meters and it was difficult to recover them. The first race was easier than the second”, explains German Roland Gaebler, 4th in race 3 and 27th in race 4.

French Youth team Gabart/Romain had another excellent result, finishing 5th in race 3.

“We feel very motivated to be sailing amongst the best sailors in the world. I’d rather be the last Youth but 15th overall in such a high level fleet” says Francois Gabart. “But it would be excellent if we could win the Youth Title and finish top 15” adds David Romain.

The weather forecast for the 2 races scheduled for tomorrow is Easterly wind – 15 knots.

For further information and full results log on to the event website www.cnarenal.com.

Results after day 2:

1, Leigh McMillan/Mark Bulkeley (12,4,3,3) 22 pts
2, Santiago Lange/Carlos Espinola, ARG (1,8,1,14) 24 pts
3, John Lovell/Charlie Ogletree, USA (5,1,8,16) 30 pts
Other GBR
50, Leo Farrow/Tristan Lamb (40,46,50,45) 181 pts
52, Jonathan Hutchcroft/Marcus Lynch (51,40,48,52) 191 pts
53, Andrew Walsh/Ed Barney (46,48,44,54) 192 pts
61, John Bernard Ready/Angus Roberts (54,54,DNC,DNC) 238 pts

RYA Team GBR thank their sponsors and suppliers for their support: UK Sport Lottery Funding - Henri-Lloyd - Concept 2 - Hill Hire - Activator – Marlow - McAlpine Business Services